UFC 164 results and photos: Gleison Tibau survives Jamie Varner rally

MILWAUKEE – Despite a late-fight rally from Jamie Varner, Gleison Tibau was able to make his 20th UFC fight a successful one.

Tibau’s dominance on the mat paid dividends on scorecards, with two of three judges awarding him the fight via split decision.

The lightweight bout closed out the preliminary card of today’s UFC 164 event at Milwaukee’s Bradley Center. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following additional prelims on Facebook and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.

Two judges scored the fight 29-28 for Tibau, while another awarded Varner a 29-27 score.

The split call reflected a wild swing in momentum as the fight entered the final round. Tibau, who spent most of the second round battering Varner from top position, struggled to maintain his composure as Varner found his range on the feet and then took the fight to the mat, where he scored with ground and pound.

The former WEC champ could not get a finish, however, and his late-fight rally wasn’t enough to sway judges.

In the fight’s first round, the lightweights sniped at each other with punches. Several times, Varner was able to connect with winging hooks, but Tibau also countered his approach with his own punches. A tactical stalemate was broken by Tibau, whose huge size as a lightweight again aided him in ground fighting.

Tibau (28-9 MMA, 13-7 UFC) is one of only 13 fighters to fight 20 times in the octagon, and he’s the youngest fighter to do so. Currently, he’s won back-to-back fights following a second-round submission of John Cholish at UFC on FX 7. Varner (21-8-1 MMA, 3-3 UFC), meanwhile, continues to struggle for momentum in his second UFC run. He’s traded wins and losses in four appearances and previously won a split call over Melvin Guillard at UFC 155.

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